Most frequently used terms in Project and Product Management
Agile approach in project management focuses on iterations and adaptation such as the Scrum’s transparency-inspection-adaptation cycle. The planning is done for each iteration, that in Scrum is knwon as a sprint.
Analogous Estimating is a technique for estimating the duration or cost of an activity or project using historical data from a similar activity or project.
Baseline is an approved version of a work product that can be changed only by formal change control procedures and is used as a benchmark for comparison with actual results.
Benchmarking is the comparative study of current or envisaged practices with those of comparable organizations in order to identify best practices, find ideas for improvements and provide a benchmark for performance measurement.
Bottom-Up Estimating is a method of estimating the duration or cost of the project by cumulating the cost estimates of items in lower levels of the WBS.
Brainstorming is a technique that uses the brain to “storm” creative solutions to a problem. The rules of brainstorming, outlined by Osborn, are simple: 1.No criticism of ideas, 2.Go for large quantities of ideas, 3.Build on each other’s ideas, 4.Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas. Created by Alex Faickney Osborn in 1967.
Business agility is the ability of an organization to: adapt quickly to market changes - internally and externally; respond quickly and flexibly to customer requests; adapt and lead change productively and profitably without compromising quality and continually being at a competitive advantage.
Business Case is a document that indicates what is expected from the project in terms of costs, risks and acceptable income, required functionality of results, schedule and resources required. It includes a documented economic feasibility study to ensure the viability of an investment which will serve as the basis for authorizing the initialization of a project.
Business Value includes all the quantifiable net benefits emanating from a business effort in tangible and / or intangible form that determine the long-term health and well-being of the business. Examples: increase revenue, reduce costs, retain customers, increase employee satisfaction, etc.
Change Control Board (CCB) is a formal group responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, deferring or rejecting changes to the project, as well as recording and communicating these decisions.
Change Control is the process by which changes to documents, deliverables, or core references associated with the project are identified, documented, approved, or rejected.
Claim is a request, demand or assertion of a right by a seller against a buyer (or vice versa), with a view to taking into account, compensation or settlement under the terms of the contract, for example in the case of a disputed change.
Company culture is the set of attitudes, behaviors and values of management and employees of a company. It remains evident in the way people interact with each other, the workspaces and the decisions they make.
Contingency Reserve is time or money spent on identified risks, in baseline cost or schedule, which are accompanied by active response strategies.
Control Scope is the process of controlling the progress of the project, verifying the content of the product and incorporating changes affecting the baseline of scope and content. See also: gold plating and scope creep.
Cost Performace Index CPI indicates the relationship between earned value (EV) and actual cost (AC), CPI = EV / AC.
Critical Path Method CPM is a method used to estimate minimum project duration and determine the degree of schedule flexibility on logical network paths as part of the schedule model.
Critical Path is the sequence of activities that represents the longest path in a project and determines the shortest possible duration for that project. The activities along the critical path have in common that Latest start date (LS) = Earliest start date (ES)
Critical success factor CSF is a necessary element for an organization or a project to achieve its mission. This factor should be closely monitored by the project manager. Also useful for anchoring root-cause analysis as an end of a fishbone diagram (fishbone or Ishikawa).
Deliverable or Output is any kind of product or capacity of perform a service, of a unique and verifiable character, which is produced to complete a process, phase or project. The deliverable can be tangible or intangible. Examples: integrated systems, revised processes, restructured organization, tests, trained staff, as well as documents such as internal rules, plans, studies, procedures, specifications, reports
Early Start Date (ES) is an attribute of an activity that expresses the earliest possible date on which the unfinished parts of a schedule activity can start, given network logic, data date, and schedule constraints.
Earned Value (EV) is the measure of work performed expressed in terms of the budget allowed for that work.
Effort is the amount of work required to complete a schedule activity or work flowchart item for the project, often expressed in hours, days, or weeks.
Fast Tracking is a schedule squeezing technique that provides that activities normally performed in sequence are performed in parallel, at least for part of their duration.
Free Float is the maximum time that a schedule activity can be delayed without delaying the earliest start date of any successor task or violating a schedule constraint.
Functional Organization is an organizational structure within which staff members are grouped by areas of specialization and the project manager is authorized to allocate work and resources to a limited extent.
Gold Plating is the phenomenon of working on a project or task beyond the point of diminishing returns.
Governance is a system of rules, policies, and practices that dictate how a company’s board of directors manages and oversees a company’s operations. Governance includes principles of transparency, accountability and security.
Key Performance Indicator KPI is a type of performance measurement. KPIs measure the success of a particular project or activity in which it engages.
Kick-off workshop is the first meeting with the project team and the project client / sponsor. This meeting introduces the members of the project team and the sponsor and provides an opportunity to discuss the role of the team members. Other elements of the project (schedule, resources, constraints) involving the sponsor can also be discussed.
Late Start Date (LS) is an attribute of an activity that expresses the last possible date on which the unfinished parts of the scheduled activity should start, given the logic of the network, the project completion date, and the constraints on the schedule.
Lessons Learned are useful knowledge acquired during a project to improve future performance.
Magic triangle, “iron triangle” or “triple constraint”, is a model which shows that the 3 dimensions (perimeter, time and costs) are interdependent. Changes in one constraint are reflected in the others and usually require compensation in them.
Management Reserve is an element of the project budget or schedule not included in the baseline which is reserved for work not provided for in the scope of the project.
Matrix Organization is an organizational structure in which the project manager and functional managers share responsibility for setting priorities, allocating resources, and directing the work of those assigned to the project.
Milestone is a significant point or event in a project, program or portfolio.
Mission is the activity of the company, its objectives and its approach to achieve these objectives. Example: (Google) Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Monitor and Control Project Work is the process of monitoring, reviewing and communicating overall progress towards achieving the performance objectives defined in the project management plan.
Monitor Risks is the process of controlling the implementation of agreed risk response plans, monitoring identified risks, identifying new risks, analyzing them and evaluating the effectiveness of the risk management process all along the project.
Monitoring is the part of the mastery consisting in collecting the data of project performance, define performance measures, generate reports and disseminate the corresponding information.
Opportunity is a risk which would have a positive impact on one or more objectives of the project.
Outcome is the product of the execution of management processes and project activities. Results include deliverables and their positive and negative impacts.
Planned Value (PV) is the authorized budget allocated to the planned work.
Portfolio is a set of projects and / or programs, which are not necessarily linked, brought together to provide optimal use of the organization’s resources and achieve the strategic objectives of the organization while minimizing the risks of the portfolio. The portfolio can contain projects and programs.
Predictive (Waterfall) approach in project management involves a predetermined sequence of phases: initiate, plan, execute, monitor, close. It involves a complete planning in the initial phases and a careful execution of this plan for the rest of the project time.
Program is a temporary organization of interdependent projects and portfolios managed in a coordinated fashion to enable change to be implemented and benefits to be realized.
Project Charter is the document issued by the sponsor to formally authorize the project existence and gives authority to the project manager to allocate the organization’s resources to the activities of this project.
Project Management Office (PMO) is a management structure that standardizes the governance processes related to projects and facilitates the sharing of resources, methodologies, tools and techniques.
Project Manager (PM) is the person designated by the implementing organization to lead the team responsible for achieving the objectives of the project.
Project Schedule is a document that presents related activities with planned dates, durations, milestones and resources.
Project Scope Statement is the description of the scope of the project, the main deliverables, assumptions and constraints.
Project Scope is the work that must be done to deliver a product, service, or outcome that has the specified characteristics and functions.
Project is a unique, temporary, multidisciplinary and organized effort to achieve agreed deliverables under predefined conditions and constraints, which differs from an operation which is a continuous workflow. A project requires the clarification of well-defined input parameters and output standards. The temporary nature of projects implies that the project has a fixed start and end date.
Quality Audit is the structured and independent process for determining whether project activities comply with organizational and project policies, processes and procedures.
Quality is the degree of compliance with the requirements presented by the set of inherent characteristics.
Reserve or provision, is a provision included in the project management plan to mitigate risks having an impact on costs and / or schedule.
Resource Leveling is a value-for-money technique in which revisions to the project schedule aim to optimize resource allocation and are likely to influence the critical path.
Resource translates a member of a team (human resource) or a physical element necessary for the realization of the project.
Resourcefulness is the creative ability to find quick and smart ways to overcome difficulties.
Result Orientation is used to describe an individual or organization that focuses on results rather than the process used to produce a product or provide a service. The ultimate goal is to achieve the most efficient and economical processes.
Risk Acceptance is the risk response strategy whereby the project team decides to recognize the risk and not to act unless the risk happens.
Risk Avoidance is the risk response strategy intended to eliminate the threat or protect the project from its impact.
Risk Categorization is the organization by risk source, by area of the impacted project, or according to another useful cleavage (such as project phases) in order to determine the parts of the project most exposed to the effects of uncertainty. Examples: Technical, Financial, Market, Credit, Operational, etc…
Risk Evaluation is the combined effort of: 1.identifying the risks, 2.analysing potential events that may have a negative impact on the project, and 3.judging the impact (probability and exposure) of the occurrence of risk.
Risk Exposure is the total measure of the potential impact of all risks at any given time in a project, program, or portfolio.
Risk Mitigation is the risk response strategy by which the project team acts to reduce the probability of occurrence or the impact of a risk.
Risk Response is the process of developing strategic options and determining actions, to improve opportunities and reduce threats to project objectives. The answers are: acceptance, mitigation, avoidance, sharing and transfer.
Risk Sharing is a risk response strategy whereby the project team assigns responsibility for an opportunity to a third party who is best able to reap its benefits.
Risk Transference is a risk response strategy by which the project team shifts to a third party the impact of a threat and the responsibility for the response.
Risk is a possible event or condition the realization of which would have a positive (opportunity) or negative (threat) impact on one or more project objectives.
Schedule Performace Index SPI indicates that the relationship between earned value (EV) and planned value (PV), SPI = EV / PV.
Scope Creep refers to changes and continued or uncontrolled growth in the scope of a project, at any time after the project begins. This can happen when the scope of a project is not properly defined, documented, or controlled.
Scrum is a framework for developing, delivering and maintaining complex products.
Specifications is the precise statement of the needs to be met and the essential characteristics required.
Sponsor is a person or group who provides resources and political support to facilitate the success of a project, program or portfolio of projects.
Stakeholder refers to anyone (individual, group or organization) who is directly or indirectly affected by, or who has to bear the consequences of the project either in delivery (output) or outcome (results).
Stakeholder Analysis is the technique of systematically collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative information in order to determine which particular interests need to be considered throughout the project.
Strategy is an action plan designed to achieve a long-term goal. In game theory, a player’s strategy is one of the options they choose in a context where the outcome depends not only on their own actions, but on the actions of others. A player’s strategy will determine the action that the player takes at any stage of the game.
Success criteria is a series of conditions that indicate that the project has achieved its objectives. The success of project management is related to the success of the project, but it is not the same thing: it is possible to carry out project management work for a project that needs to be cancelled due to a new strategic direction taken by the organization.
Threat is a risk that would have a negative impact on one or more objectives of the project.
Three-Point Estimating is a technique used for estimating cost or time by applying an average or weighted average of optimistic, pessimistic, and more likely estimates, when there is uncertainty in the estimates of individual activities.
Vision is the desired future position of the company. Example: (Google) give access to the world’s information with one click.
WBS Dictionary is a document that provides detailed information on deliverables, activity and schedule for each element of the WBS.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is the hierarchical breakdown of the total scope of the project, which defines the work that the project team must perform to achieve the project objectives and produce the required deliverables. The WBS can be designed by object, by function or by phase.
Work Package is a unit of work defined at the lowest level of the project work flowchart for which the cost and duration are estimated and managed.
